Discovery Cove- Day Four

The fourth day of our trip was amazing. We started the morning by trying to meet Mickey at GKTW. When we got there, the line was too long and they didn't let anyone else in, otherwise the characters wouldn't be done on schedule. We let the kids have some ice cream to instead. Then we headed off to Discovery Cove.
Stephen was amazed by the gigantic moth when we were checking in.
Breakfast and lunch (and snacks and alcohol had we wanted them) were included with the ticket price. Natalie loved the salmon she had for lunch, one of her very favorite foods in the entire world. That girl can EAT salmon.

This day was for my heart as much as it was for Natalie. The saddest thing is that the waterproof, disposable camera David bought did not turn out. I had great pictures of us underwater snorkling, of some cool fish and stingray, and the BEST pictures of us making a sand castle. Making the sand castle together was SO INCREDIBLE for me and I am so sad those pictures didn't turn out. I will just have to treasure my memories for that! At least I got this one picture of them on the sandy beach before we put the real camera away in the locker.
This palce was gorgeous, amazing, laid back, relaxing, just what our feet needed, and perfect for our hearts. We took Natalie and then Natalie, Stephen, and Grandma around the river. David and I even went around a part of the river ourselves, snorkling and holding hands underwater, very special, especially since we went on our honeymoon to Hawaii and went snorkling there.
Waterfalls turned out to be interesting for us that day, Natalie was scared to go under them, but then she got brave and did it.
At one point in the afternoon, there was a huge thunderstorm with pounding rain. It was like a monsoon, it came out of nowhere. There was lighting too, so everyone was ordered undercover. After the danger was over, we were allowed out, but still not allowed back in the water. That is when we built our sandcastle. Natalie, Stephen, and I were working on it just before we were ordered under cover while David and Grandma picked out pictures. It was even better after when we had Daddy to share the moment with us.
There is an aviary there that was amazing. A portion of the aviary can only be reached by coming on the river. It was so cool to see birds swoop down near the water.
The kids loved feeding the birds, we even saw them eating dead baby mice, eww!


Swimming with the dolphins was the highlight of the day! I love all the pictures.

















Discovery Cove closes fairly early, so after a relaxing day, we went back to enjoy the nightly activities at GKTW...it was Christmas that night.
While we waited in line to see Santa and marveled at all the Christmas decorations, the kids (and us) enjoyed cotton candy and snow cones.

The coolest moment was when Santa picked Natalie up and called the crowd of people to attention, "we have a birthday here, Natalie just turned five!" Everyone sang Happy Birthday to Natalie while Santa held her up. It was VERY special for Natalie and meant the world to her. She also got to pick out two toys, instead of just one. I don't think I will ever forget that because of how happy it made her and how special she felt. To end the night, we went on a carriage ride, we just barely made the last one of the night. It went through the streets of Give Kids the World. It was neat. Then we got some pizza in our villa and called it a night!

What a day, after the first four days, we felt like everything else was just extra. We could've gone home happy. Natalie ended the night with sandy AND glittery hair and nothing could've made me happier.